Charles Brokaw - The Lucifer Code

A short distance further on, they came to another fork. This time the scanner didn’t pick up the trail.

‘What’s wrong?’ Eckart asked as the soldier turned and checked the readings again.

‘I’m not getting the readings any more, sir.’

‘You said we were practically on top of them.’

‘Yes, sir. We were. Actually, we still are.’ The soldier looked at the wall next to them. ‘The readings show that they walked right into this wall.’

‘Or through it.’ Eckart pushed on the wall, but it felt solid. ‘Mayfield.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Do you still have our position?’

‘Affirmative.’

‘Do you see a tunnel along the north wall?’

Only the popping crackle of the stressed signal sounded for a moment. ‘No, sir. According to the maps I’m looking at, nothing is there.’

‘Well, the maps are evidently wrong because these people didn’t just vanish into thin air.’ Eckart shone his light on the floor.

There were no scrapes or scuff marks on the floor, nothing to indicate the presence of a door that opened outward.

If not outward, then inward, he reasoned. He reached into his chest pack med kit and took out a pair of aspirin. He crushed the tablets between his fingers and dropped the fine white powder into his other palm. Lying on the floor, he dusted the area in front of the wall, then gently blew the powder toward it.

Some of the white powder slid gracefully through a carefully mortised crack that hadn’t been visible to his naked eye. In bright sunlight he might have seen it, but not in the eternal darkness of the passageway. He studied the wall again. There was nothing there to indicate the presence of the hidden door.

He got to his feet and called for his demolitions expert. Maybe Eckart didn’t know all the tricks or the secret word to get through the door, but there was always another way to make an entrance.

‘Joachim! What are you doing?’

Stunned and hurt, Lourds watched Olympia grab hold of her brother’s arm and haul him backwards before he could strike again.

‘I’m protecting this place,’ Joachim snarled, his angry features looming out of the darkness, ‘as I promised our father I would do.’

‘You can’t just hit him like that!’ Olympia protested.

Actually, Lourds thought that Joachim could hit him like that any time he chose to. Lourds wasn’t eager to repeat the encounter. He sat up gingerly and worked his jaw. He tasted blood.

‘I guess you’re not very big on the trust part,’ Lourds said.

Olympia wheeled on Lourds. ‘And you! What did you think you were doing telling him you were going to pry that stone out of the wall?’

‘Well,’ Lourds replied, ‘with all of us crammed in here like sardines, it didn’t seem very likely that I was going to be able to get the stone out of the wall without him seeing me do it. I thought it would be better to tell him what I was going to do.’

‘Why would you want to take the stone out of the wall?’

‘This can’t be allowed,’ Joachim protested. ‘This is the crypt of the Elders. This is where those men gave their lives to protect the secret that John of Patmos entrusted to our order.’

‘To ensure the safety of the world,’ Lourds said in a bored tone. Joachim took a step towards him. Lourds took a step back and bounced off the wall behind him.

‘Non-believer!’ Joachim accused.

‘You’re the one with belief problems, not me. I believe the answer to the location of the Joy Scroll is behind that rock.’

Silence filled the chamber.

For the first time, Lourds noticed that Cleena had moved towards him. Her hand rested on her hip, but he knew it was only inches away from the pistol she carried.

‘Joachim,’ one of the other monks said, ‘perhaps we should listen to the professor. After all, he was able to decipher the text when we could not.’

‘It could all be a trick,’ Joachim said. ‘Don’t you see? We don’t know that anything he is telling us is true.’

His pride stung, Lourds responded, ‘I read about the Joy Scroll. I deciphered that language.’

‘Qayin knows about the Joy Scroll as well. For all we know, Qayin told you about it when he had you captive.’

‘That didn’t happen,’ Cleena said. ‘I was there with him every minute. Qayin didn’t mention the Joy Scroll.’

‘You were also his kidnapper,’ Joachim said angrily.

Cleena shrugged without concern. ‘I was just one of many that day. And, as I recall, you were awfully quick to reach us after Qayin had us.’

‘This room should remain undefiled,’ Joachim said. ‘Those Elders need to have their final resting places respected.’

‘Their final resting places?’ Lourds repeated.

Joachim pointed to the floor. For the first time, Lourds noticed the nine rectangles made of different coloured stone set into the floor.

‘After their deaths,’ Joachim said, ‘when it was once more safe to return to this place, the Brotherhood returned and buried the Elders.’

‘In the floor?’

‘Yes. Saints are buried in churches. This is hallowed ground.’

‘Where were the other monks buried?’

‘In cemeteries. But these men were special. Their passing could not go unmarked.’

Lourds blotted his bloody lips on a shirt sleeve. ‘I’m not going to defile this room. I’m going to simply remove that stone and look behind it. When I’m done, I’ll put the stone back.’

‘You said nothing about removing the stone earlier.’

Nodding, Lourds agreed. ‘I didn’t. Because I thought you would have this kind of reaction.’ He touched his bruised face gingerly.

‘Why do you think there’s something behind that stone?’ the other monk asked.

‘According to all of you, the Elders were the only ones who knew where the Joy Scroll was kept,’ Lourds said.

The monk nodded.

‘During the sack of Constantinople in 1204, the monks knew they could be found out and their secret stolen,’ Lourds said. ‘They were aware no one else knew where the Joy Scroll was. So they had to leave behind a message. In this room.’

‘The stone,’ Olympia said.

‘Exactly.’ Lourds wiped more blood from his mouth. ‘One of the monks inscribed that stone with the message you couldn’t read while they were in here slowly dying.’

‘Your translation was, “A stranger shall be required to read the message we have left behind”,’ Olympia said.

‘That’s right. Now what do you make of that?’ Lourds stared at them.

‘It doesn’t make any sense, just as I told you,’ Joachim said.

‘That’s because you don’t have any faith,’ Lourds replied. He hurried on before Joachim took umbrage over his accusation. ‘Why a stranger? Why someone outside the Brotherhood? Why did they write the message in a language they created instead of one that would be easily understood?’

‘The last thing we seem to need is a lot more questions,’ Cleena said.

Despite the pain in his mouth, Lourds couldn’t help grinning. ‘It’s a logic problem. Not a faith problem. This place is hidden.’ He waved his arms to take in the room. ‘Strangers don’t come here. Strangers aren’t allowed.’ He paused. ‘So why bring a stranger here?’

‘To see something someone familiar with the place wouldn’t see,’ Olympia said.

‘Close,’ Lourds told her, ‘but you’re already off on a tangent.’

‘Make sense,’ Joachim ordered impatiently.

‘Sure, but it seems as plain as the nose on your face.’ Lourds looked at them. ‘What do you have to fear from strangers?’

No one answered.

‘That a stranger won’t revere those things you hold precious.’ Lourds pointed at the wall. ‘Like that stone. You see a precious relic that ties to a very sad, very terrible story. Maybe even to the nine men who gave their lives to protect it. But do you know what I see?’